[MillietheWarrior]

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Whatever. My name is Minerva Maddox. I’m a freaking waitress at a diner, and I play guitar with a band at a bar from time to time. I live in a tiny ass apartment in a tiny ass town, and I don’t crap with anyone. I don’t know why the hell I’m here, or how I got here. One minute I was stepping out my door, and the next, I was sitting in the forest with a God damn twisted ankle, and being manhandled by a delusional woman who thinks she’s a Mandalorian.”

[MillietheWarrior]

The man’s eyes widened at that point, and his gaze darted quickly to ‘Parja’ who was looking torn between being confused, angry, and insulted all at the same time. “Minerva Maddox?” she repeated slowly, folding and unfolding her hands. “See, Minerva, that still doesn’t answer the question of why you’re here. What were you doing out in the forest besides being ‘manhandled by a delusional woman who thinks she’s a Mandalorian‘?”

Her voice was tight, and I knew I struck a nerve, but I didn’t freaking care. If she was really ‘Parja Bralor’ then that man beside her was probably Fi Skirata, considering how unsteady he looked. Well, crap this. If they were who they said they were (highly unlikely) then I was about to rock their God damn world.

[MillietheWarrior]

“Why I’m here? Oh, I don’t know. Because fate is an ass who likes to crap around with people like me who don’t need this kind of shit. I just finished reading ‘Republic Commando’-” At this, I saw Fi twist to look at Parja with a somewhat alarmed look. Parja remained impassive. “-and was disappointed at the craping ending. So how about this for explaining? You’re Parja Bralor. That-” I indicated Fi with my chin. “-is Fi Skirata, formerly a Republic Commando who got blown up on Gaftikar and was ‘stolen’ by Besany Wennen, Ordo’s girlfriend, and then ‘discharged, dead.’ I’m currently on Mandalore, if what I’ve seen is any indication, at Kyrimorut, Kal Skirata’s secret location for deserters and whomever else happens to come along: like Bardan Jusik, for instance. Judging by Fi’s progress, and how well he looks at the moment, I’d say Etain already had her baby, Venku Skirata, or Kad, and is currently either deployed with her troops, or back on Coruscant with Darman, Kal, and the rest of Omega Squad and whichever Nulls are with them at the moment. Ko Sai is dead--I think she hung herself-- and her remains, sans some skin which Jaing turned into gloves, are probably sitting in General Zey’s office, courtesy of Skirata and in conjunction, Sev. So what? Did I hit the nail on the head? Am I even close?”

[MillietheWarrior]

I smirked smugly, completely confident that I’d just blown their friggin’ minds. And I was so right. Both stared at me with something akin to awe and fear. Parja raised herself up slowly on shaking arms, her face pale and drained of color. “How…” She licked her lips, her voice suddenly very hoarse. I noticed, with a very smug sense of self-satisfaction, that her tough ‘I-don’t-give-a-crap’ bravado was gone. “How did you…Know all that? There’s no way you could’ve…”

[MillietheWarrior]

“I told you. I read the book. Look. This shit is all freaking me the hell out. I don’t know why I’m here, how I got here or…if this isn’t some freaky ass dream induced by some crazy ninjas slipping into my room and drugging my soda.” I got a really weird look from Parja at this. “Where I’m from, all of you and all of this is just a story in a book. You’re just characters. Albeit, characters with some kind of craped up existence, but still, characters. It’s all written in the books. All of it! I even have the damn books in my guitar case. Go get them. Read for yourself.”

[MillietheWarrior]

I jerked my chin towards the case, which Parja had drug inside and forgotten on the floor beside her. Parja scooted her chair back and skirted me like I was the plague, before she knelt down beside the case and drug out the three books. She brought them back and laid them on the table in front of her, and I was astonished to see that the final book, ‘Order 66’ was completely blank on the front. The other two still had their covers, titles and everything intact, but the last was…empty.

Parja lifted the first book and flipped the pages, silently skimming through it. I realized she’d inadvertently chosen the first book in my collection: ‘Triple Zero.’ I watched for a good ten or so minutes as her eyes went wide, Fi peering over her shoulder from time to time and making small, squeaking noises, as if trying to contain himself from shouting out loud. “But how…” I heard him mutter more than once, before Parja slowly set the book down. She quietly picked up ‘True Colors’ and repeated the same process, her face going pale once she reached the point where I was certain Fi’s ‘accident’ came into play. Then her face went blank, and she set the book down slowly and carefully.

[MillietheWarrior]

“Some pretty potent stuff, huh?” I asked, grinning from ear to ear. As craped up as all of this was, I thought it was pretty freaking hilarious. I’m sure they didn’t feel the same way, judging by the looks on their faces, but damn…it was funny.

“Indeed,” Parja said slowly. “But this book isn’t finished.” She pointed to ‘True Colors’ and I frowned.

“Well…I’m gonna take a shot in the dark and say that’s because the end hasn’t happened yet. It’s probably writing itself as you go along.” What the crap? Did I just become the Twilight Zone expert? That sounded like a pretty plausible explanation to me, and even Parja and Fi seemed to buy it.

[MillietheWarrior]

I watched as Parja nodded, then stood and ejected a mean looking blade from her gauntlet. Oh shit. She was going to off me and keep the books, wasn’t she? I leaned back in my chair, and I guess I must’ve looked pretty freaked out, because she laughed and shook her head. “Just cutting the binding,” she said, and reached behind me to slice clean through the ropes around my wrists.

I sat there for a moment, rubbing my skin where the rope had rubbed it raw, and frowning at the table. “This is all a little screwed up,” I sighed finally. “Sorry about calling you delusional before. I think I might be the delusional one.”

[MillietheWarrior]

Fi actually grinned, and Parja mimicked him, shaking her head and making a waving motion with her hand. “No harm, no foul. How about you and Fi get acquainted, while I go and comm Kal. He definitely has to know about this.”

I bit my lip, suddenly a bit nervous about what would happen once the ‘top man’ found out. I mean, he was the ring leader in charge of everything. He’d probably think I was some crazy psycho and tell them to off me once he heard from her. I tried not to let my fears get the best of me, but something must’ve shown on my face, because Fi reached across the table and awkwardly patted my hand, missing the first couple of times before managing to tap it gently.

[MillietheWarrior]

“Don’t worry,” he said, his face scrunched up slightly, as if he couldn’t remember the words. “Kal’buir is, um, nice. He won’t hurt anyone without…uh…provo-…provo-…ummm…”

“Provocation?” I provided helpfully, smiling gently and tilting my head. The pain in my ankle had resolved to a dull ache, and I was happy to forget it for a time in favor of talking to Fi. His face lit up at my suggestion, and he nodded once.

“That’s it,” he chirped, leaning forward slightly. I missed the small smile that Parja shot our way as she slipped out of the room to comm Kal. I was too absorbed in having a somewhat awkward conversation with a very adorable former commando while mentally coaching myself to keep calm and not pass out on their floor.

Right.

[MillietheWarrior]

So while Parja was comming Kal, I had the distinctly difficult job of not going all ‘fan girl’ over the fact that I was sitting in the Skirata kitchen and talking to Fi. It was seriously hard. I kept trying not to giggle every five seconds, a fact which I’m sure Fi caught, although he didn’t point out that I was making weird faces in an effort not to start laughing uncontrollably.

Fi wasn’t very talkative, and I realized that he was a bit uncomfortable with normal conversations. He probably hadn’t had much practice talking to anyone but Parja, and I soon discovered that the reason he wasn’t saying anything was because he was not only a bit shy, but also embarrassed. He probably thought he might look like an idiot if he tried to engage in a  conversation with me and ended up forgetting half the words he wanted to use. Not that I minded; I thought it was adorable.

[MillietheWarrior]

So Fi spent the time studiously trying to ignore me in hopes that I wouldn’t want to strike up a conversation. As desperate as I was to talk to him (This was Star Wars, after all. How often did someone get a chance like this?) I didn’t want to make him anymore uncomfortable than he was, so I decided that now was as good a time as any to check out my ankle.

It still hurt like a bitch, but the pain had subsided to a dull throb. I was certain I still couldn’t walk normally on it, but when I set it down on the ground, there wasn’t any stabbing pain like there’d been before when I first discovered it was twisted. I once more thanked my lucky stars it wasn’t broken. That would have been awkward.

Speaking of awkward…

[MillietheWarrior]

Parja returned to the kitchen, a grim look on her face as she flipped her comlink closed and stared at the floor. I had a strangely uncomfortable feeling about what she was going to say next.

“Thanks kid,” she said finally, an amused smile curling over her face. “Now Kal thinks I’m as crazy as you. But he’s sending someone to check this whole thing out, just in case. For the record, I completely believe you. Those…books could NOT have been fakes. But I suppose trying to explain something like this over the comm without proof would make anyone a bit skeptical, huh?”

[MillietheWarrior]

I fidgeted nervously; who was Kal sending? For some reason, I really hoped it wasn’t Ordo. As kickass as he was, he just had this weird vibe about him. Like, he was so naïve, yet so…I don’t know, deadly? He was a dangerous combination all rolled into one, and I so did not feel like dealing with him when it came to something this important. It could literally be a matter of life and death.

That thought frightened me a little. I wasn’t kidding when I said ‘life and death.’ If these people thought I was faking it, and had somehow dug up a bunch of information on them, they might just slot me right then and there. My very existence here hinged on them believing me and those damn books. As long as I had those, and maybe the good word of Parja, then I supposed I was safe. But having Ordo ‘check on the situation’ sounded like a death sentence. I vehemently hoped Kal sent someone like Mereel, or even Jaing. At least they had a sense of humor, and a little more worldly experience.

[MillietheWarrior]

I realized that I’d been silent for a little too long, and both Parja and Fi were staring at me expectantly. I quickly lifted my head and smiled weakly, trying not to look as uncomfortable and worried as I felt. “Cool,” I managed, wondering if that sounded as lame out loud as it did in my head. “So…uh…What do I do now?”

My question was answered for me as my brain suddenly short circuited. My mouth snapped shut mid-sentence as the reality of the situation suddenly crashed down on me headfirst. The books, the alternate universe, Mandalore, Parja and Fi, commandos, and the very real possibility that one of the clones was going to off me. I think it was just a bit too much for me to handle. Well, the whole ‘alternate universe’ and the possible ‘death by Null’ thing was probably what tipped me over the edge.

The last thing I remember was the shocked faces of Fi and Parja as I lost my grip on reality and plummeted into darkness. Son of a b-…

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